Poor exchange rate killing Nigerians, Archbishop tells Buhari

The Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Dr. Alfred Martins, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to counteract the exchange rate of the naira, which he described as having negative impacts on Nigerians.

A document titled, “President Muhammadu Buahari Don’t neglect what Nigerians are saying” and made available to Saturday PUNCH by the cleric on Friday, said the continued devaluation of the naira at the parallel market was causing inflation in the country. He said, “On the short run, one would hope that the government of President Buhari would do something about the exchange rate of the naira as the negative effect of the situation is beginning to strangulate both the rich and the poor in the nation.

“The prices of the basic necessities of life have gone up and the bad living condition of our people is becoming worse. We have many more people going about begging for assistance for even the most basic needs of life.

“Many people who had jobs are losing them, while the frustration of those who were never employed is becoming even more dangerous for them and the nation. The idle hand is the devil’s workshop and the government needs to be seen as taking control before the insecurity and other social ills become even worse than they are now.” Martins praised the Treasury Single Account policy, but warned that making it permanent would be counterproductive. He said, “A policy such as the Treasury Single Account, even from the point of view of common sense, has great value given the circumstance that brought it into being, that is, the unwieldy number of accounts held by the government in commercial banks and used for corrupt purposes by government officials. I am sure it is bearing fruit for the common good already.

“However, the same common sense would dictate that it should not be a permanent policy given the fact that if allowed to stay for too long, it would stifle the banks and make them to perform below par, such that they may be forced to sack workers and compound the unemployment problem that is already so heavy.”

Source: Punchng